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The Healing by Brandon Blaesing
A few days ago, Adam was playing outside when suddenly he remembered his mother warning him of the punishment that will befall the little boys who steal once they croak; she had told him this after catching him trying to steal a cupcake from a batch that was meant for her sister’s birthday party. Mrs. Rockwell told him he would be in a place where his punishment would be endless. However, she didn’t tell him exactly what punishments would await him. But what she had said was effective enough. Mrs. Rockwell could see that her words were having an evidently traumatizing effect on her son, so she started to comfort him like a Mama wolf protecting a cub and began to reassure him that all he has to do is be good and the greatest reward would be waiting for him on the other side of life. As Adam sat down by the tree in his front lawn he began to wonder what punishments would await him in the end if he did do wrong: Would he be in a time out forever? Would he be endlessly paddled? Or would a giant monster swallow him whole forcing him to remain trapped in his stomach for the rest of eternity? Adam continued to imagine what the bad place would possibly be like when suddenly a dark figure loomed over him. He looked up only to find a strange woman of about 60 or 70 years. She had wavy gray hair that went down to her shoulders and wrinkly skin. But these weren’t what Adam had found striking about her due to the fact it would make sense for someone to look like this at such an age, what he had found striking was her dark blue eye. Her other eye was brown and only stayed staring left. However, her blue eye was looking directly at him, almost as if it was staring into his soul. Her blue eye just seemed so out of place and was just so unnerving. But Adam was taught to do be respectful of what others had to say, especially an adult. So he willingly listened when she began to talk. “You know young man, dying doesn’t have to be all scary, because I got just the thing that is guaranteed to keep you out of the bad place.” She said flashing a grin that was missing a couple of teeth. “Hey how did you kn-“Adam started but the woman cut him off. “No time for questions my sweet, just be at my house tomorrow. I’ll have everything ready!” And with that, she walked off. Adam tried calling to her but she was already too far away to hear anything. She had been surprisingly fast for someone her age. As Adam sat astounded as to what had happened, his Mother started to call for him to come inside. She didn’t sound very happy so with a bit of hesitation, He went inside his house. “Hi Mom, what is-“ His mother cut him off: “Who were you talking to out there?” “A lady.” “What was her name?” “I don’t know.” Mrs. Rockwell crossed her arms. “Adam you can’t be talking to people you aren’t familiar with.” “But Mom she was try-“ “Trying to kidnap you, lure you, and take you away from your Mommy.” She counted off her fingers as she listed the possible outcomes. Some of these possibilities freaked Adam out, so Mrs. Rockwell geared her lecture to a lighter tone. “Look Adam, I’m not trying to scare you, it’s just that not everyone in this world is as nice as Mommy, Grandma, or Farmer Henson. Some people may seem like they want to help, but there’s a great chance that it may be a trap.” “What should I do if I see her again?” So, Mrs. Rockwell went over the basics as to what he should do if a stranger were to come up to him, such as: “Come straight to Mommy if anyone ever comes up to you.” After Mrs. Rockwell’s lecture concluded, she and her son began to hug and Adam’s mother promised that she would do anything for him; she also promised that his confrontation with the old woman would be kept between her and Adam. That very night Adam found that sleep was going to be near impossible. His mother had recently filled his head with profits that were near thought-provoking. “Be a good boy or you won’t go to heaven once your time comes!” “Don’t talk to strangers!” Then, like a light switch, his mind shifted to the warnings of his mother, to the promises the old woman had given him. “I can make it so you don’t have to go there.” All these thoughts gave Adam all sorts of wonders; should he go to the old woman’s house? Where did she even live? Adam lied in bed with his mind wandering until eventually, sleep had come without warning. The next morning Adam was tasked with going to Old Man Cooper and buying a basket of Tomatoes. Mrs. Rockwell had given Adam 50 cents and sent him on his way, but not before reminding him of what he must do if he encountered anyone that was unfamiliar to him. Adam replied “Yes, mother.” To show he understood her. As Adam wandered through the woods to get to the old farmer’s house, he was startled by a sudden rustling in the bushes. Adam looked behind him but was greeted with nothing, so he proceeded forward. But shortly after that, he heard the noise again and this time when he turned around he saw one of the bushes moving for a moment. Adam began to walk toward the bush with caution. He picked up a stick he had found and started to jab the mysterious bush with it. Nothing happened. “Get ahold of yourself, Adam!” He thought. “You know there’s nothing in there!” But Adam wasn’t too far from the truth, because something had been in there. As Adam turned around he was greeted with a familiar voice. “Hellooooo.” The voice called, “Can you come help me please?” He turned around and saw the exact same woman he encountered yesterday. But Adam had remembered his mother’s warning. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.” He said to the woman. But it seemed that she had been offended by this response. “Now who said I was a stranger?” she said with a look of gloom in her face. Adam felt some shame upon “making her sad”, so he apologized. To which she kindly accepted. “Besides, the woman said. “I happen to know your mother. She’s always demanding you be on your best behavior, and she makes a great raspberry pie!” Which happened to be true! So Adam figured that this woman couldn’t be that bad! After all, any friend of his mother was a friend of his! With that in mind, Adam took her under his wing. “Come to me.” The woman guided Adam forward. “I’ve been wanting to meet you since your mother told me about you.” Adam proceeded toward the woman. “What is your name, little one?” She asked in a kind tone. Adam still found that he was nervous around this woman but he managed to get his name out of his mouth. “Well, Adam I dropped my ring in the bushes, can you help me find it please?” And Adam agreed to this task. Adam searched in the bushes for a while until he saw a ring with a tiny red ruby attached to it. “Is this it?” He asked as he held it out, “Why, yes it is! Thank you so much Adam.” And the woman ruffled his hair. “You’re welcome. What is your name?” “Mrs. Graceland.” Adam gave a friendly wave. “Hi, Mrs. Graceland.” Mrs. Graceland played along and said “Hi.” back. Then she remembered what she had told Adam yesterday. “How about I help make dying less scary?” Mrs. Graceland asked with enthusiasm. Adam thought for a moment and came to a final verdict: “Sure!” but he was still confused about one thing: “If your friends with my mother, how come she didn’t recognize you yesterday?” To which the woman gave a friendly laugh. “Oh, we were so far away from your house. We must’ve looked like little ants!” This was all starting to make sense to Adam, but he was still wondering how she knew about his fear of dying, although she had a cure for that so he didn’t want to slow things down with more questions. So he decided to do the cure with Mrs. Graceland right then and there. Mrs. Graceland held out her ruby-encrested ring. “Just stare right into the ring Adam, and try not to blink!” As Adam did this, Mrs. Graceland began to chant in such a funny way, it sounded like she was talking, but the words made no sense. After what seemed like forever everything went black for about 30 seconds. Adam woke up still on his feet with Mrs. Graceland smiling at him. “Now you’re cured.” But Adam wasn’t convinced and Mrs. Graceland could tell just by looking at him. “Oh! You want proof?” She asked. So she pulled a knife out of her pack and stabbed young Adam directly in the stomach. Although he had said “ouch” Adam couldn’t feel anything, he had only reacted from shock. He looked down and pulled his shirt up only to find an empty hole that oozed blood. But before his eyes, the hole sealed closed and ceased bleeding. Adam’s eyes widened in shock. “What…How?” “You’ve been healed!” Mrs. Graceland said before letting out a chuckle. But in reality, she had made Adam immortal without his knowledge. “But how did my wound recover that fast?” Adam asked. But Mrs. Graceland let out another chuckle before telling Adam that her power was beyond any words. “Now you’d better hurry along and get those tomatoes.” Mrs. Graceland warned. Adam proceeded along with his task but still wondered how she knew about it. He turned around to ask her only to find she was gone, so he just assumed that his mother told her. Once Adam had returned home his mother was waiting for him in the living room. She wasn’t very happy with him either. “Where on earth have you been?” She said. Adam hesitated for the moment; “I…I….Got the toma-“ Mrs. Rockwell cut him off. “Oh that’s real sweet,” she said as she snatched the carton of tomatoes out of his hands, “now where were you?” “I just went to get the tomatoes!” Mrs. Rockwell sarcastically answered: “Oh and I suppose you crawled your way there, huh?” “It’s a long walk.” “It’s straight through the woods Adam, I used to go there when I was a youngin’ so nice try!” Adam grew silent. “Now are you going to tell me? Or am I going to have to get the cord?” Adam hated the cord with a passion. His Mother had a strong right arm which is always what she used to strike. So, with the fear of the cord in mind, the truth came right out of him: “I ran into the woman in the woods.” A loud sigh ran out of Mrs. Rockwell’s nose. “Boy, didn’t I tell you yesterday not to talk to people you didn’t know?” She yelled. Adam began to argue: “But I do know her! Her name is Mrs. Rockwell.” “I don’t care, you still should’ve come to me.” “But I know her name! She isn’t a stranger anymore.” “No, you don’t make any interaction with anyone unless either I know them or they are a family member.” “She was trying to help me mom!” Adam’s arguing made his Mother snap and she backhanded him across the face. The slap was as unexpected as lightning to Adam as tears of shock welled up in his eyes. The slap didn’t hurt since Mrs. Graceland had cured him, but he was still pained his mother willingly tried to hurt him in such an unexpected way. Mrs. Rockwell regretted what she had done. “Oh dear, Adam I’m sorry it’s just that when I was young your Aunt had disappeared while doing the same exact task I had given you. You’re my only son and I just don’t want the same thing to happen to you.” Adam’s eyes began to widen. “Did she ever come back?” “I’m afraid not. That’s why I got so crossed when you came home so late, I slowly began to think you had ended up like your Aunt.” Adam sobbed into his Mother’s shoulders. “I’m sorry Mom. I didn’t know.” “No Adam, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you go off on your own. Next time I’m coming with you. After a bit of hugging Adam had calmed down. So had Mrs. Rockwell after the scare she just had. “Are you alright now Adam?” She asked as she brought his head up to look at her.” “Yes Mommy.” Then they both sat down and enjoyed their tomatoes. Adam had gone to get more tomatoes from old man cooper a few days later with his mother accompanying him. Adam walked nervously through the forest holding onto his Mother’s hand. He had expected to Mrs. Graceland. Fortunately she was nowhere to be seen and they received their tomatoes without any interruptions. Over the next few years, rumors of nuclear warfare began to arise. Some believe it was nothing to panic over, while others saw it as a serious matter. Just to be safe, Adam’s Mother had built a little shelter behind their home. So that if it did take place, they would go there to be safe. One day, the shelter became a necessity. Adam was startled awake by his mother telling him to get up now. Confused, Adam slowly got out of bed only to be scolded by his Mother. This got Adam moving a little faster. “GET TO THE SHELTER, NOW! DON’T WAIT UP FOR ME. I’LL BE RIGHT THERE!” Adam started to grab some of his toys but his mother told him not to grab anything, so he obeyed. Once Adam was in the shelter he closed the door and waited for his Mother. He waited and waited. First there was silence, then a loud rumbling sound, then silence again. Adam was too afraid to check what was going on, so he waited for a while and then gained the courage to check. But when he tried to open the shelter door, it wouldn’t budge. Adam tried harder and harder to get it open, but it was sealed shut. Adam’s front lawn went from a green landscape to a crisp desert. The flowers on his front lawn were all burnt to nothing, and a large portion of his house was missing, while the other part of it was ablaze. A large oak tree in his backyard had been blown over, it was still intact but it had fallen on the door to the shelter, sealing Adam inside. Adam gave up trying to get the door open and tried to scream for help. But no one was around to hear him. Because everyone had died from the seemingly unexpected bombing. So eventually he just ended all hope and prayed that death would take him. But luckily for him...he was immortal. Category:Horror Category:Fantasy